Transforming Drip-Free Umbrella-in-a-Handbag Design Like the proverbial mouse trap, it seems like everyone is always out to design a better umbrella. While many of the results are more focused on novelty and form than function, some combine style and substance in an appealing and pragmatic way – such as this transforming inside-out umbrella idea by Seung Hee Son. Continue reading below Our Featured Videos The portability is of course the first and most obvious benefit of this unique umbrella design but certainly not the only one. Moreover, the designer has thought out how the transformation process will work on a step-by-step basis to ensure that everything can be done in a dry, comfortable and easy way with one hand on the handle and the other hand performing the conversion without getting wet. About the Designer “Seung Hee Lee is PhD. and Associate Professor of the Faculty of Art and Design, University of Tsukuba, Japan.
~Ruffles And Stuff~ Compact Cork Tent: Easy & Eco-Friendly Camping Cylinder Titled ‘Tree House’, this clever little mobile sheltered is named after its constituent material rather than its location – composed of sustainable cork it is a flat-pack portable dwelling made to replace conventional synthetics-based tents. An award-winning design collaboration between Ana Correia, Vasco Lopes, Vera Gomes for Dideia (via YankoDesign), it is chemical-free and environmentally-safe, lightweight and portable, and utilizes the positive thermal properties of cork to its advantage. Like an ordinary tent design, it rolls and folds into a compact and simple-to-store form that can be deployed as needed, and unwinds into a cocoon-like cylindrical shape with built-in insulation, breathable flaps, a small porthole for light and views and a custom-fit bedroll and pillow inside.
Living With Lindsay — Creating a Beautiful Home, One Glue Gun Burn at a Time Transforming Fashion: Multifunctional Clothing Designs Azumi & David are always working toward new and ever more weird and wonderful fashion designs that boggle the mind and defy conventional rules of style. Some of there most fun and engaging work revolves around convertible clothing that serves multiple purposes and easily transforms to serve its various functions. This hat-to-handbag design concept is not subtle about its nature, looking like a handbag on your head when worn as a hat and looking a lot like a hat when held as a handbag. Some of their designs convert more for mobility and storage, such as pants, scarves and other clothing items that pack down into tiny portable easy-to-carry pockets. Ever experimentalists, these designers often end up with designs that look half-finished or seem to be the by-products of fashion gone wrong or the remnants of other designs cobbled together in curious ways.
Cute & Easy Fabric/Ribbon Bandaids Kids and ouchies seem to go hand in hand... or maybe that should be 'on knee & knees'? If you have children or have a child occasionally in your care, there's a really good chance that you have a small stash of boxes, with bandaids in different sizes and colors, ready to go at a moments notice! (Just ask Alaina's teacher!!) Since I'm almost positive that my children see bandaids as removable body-art stickers, it was quickly becoming an expensive new hobby for us. With this simple idea, there's no need to purchase those neon shades or the cartoon character bandaids anymore. Now you can make your own cute fabric bandaids with just a few materials and only 3 quick steps! Materials:Glue Dots - Craft Fabric Adhesive Bandaids (I like the generic fabric bandaids)ribbon or fabric scraps Directions1. 2. 3. Alaina and I had alot of fun whipping up this cute little tutorial.. hope you like it!!
DIY Dress-Up Ideas: 5 Sexy Ways to Upcycle Old Clothing Upcycled designs often emphasize radical do-it-yourself transformations, but some of the most simple ideas can have dramatic impacts. These clothing conversions illustrate the ease with which people can upcycle ordinary objects and make them extraordinary, turning formless junk shirts clothes into elegant tops, bottoms and sexy dresses. Mari Santos does more than just recycle small-scale clothing extras into new, well-fitting and sufficiently stylish upcycled outfits – she shows how much potential exists in upcycling extremely plain everyday objects, things we would normally trash without a second look. A baggy t-shirt is one of the most ubiquitous items of excess clothing you can find in almost any closet. These ill-fitting and over-sized extras have a lot more potential than most people realize – from make-your-own dresses to two-piece tops and much more.
Shabby Blogs DIY Dress Design: Clever Color-Your-Own Clothing Remember those fun color-it-yourself books from your childhood? Sometimes they were color-by-number and other times, well, they invited you to simply pick your own color scheme (which some of us did with color-by-number books regardless). Taking this simple idea to a new level, one designer has come up with an idea to let people color their own dresses and other apparel. Her dress design ideas, however, do not end with just color – Berber Soepboer has also created a series of dresses that are designed to change color and pattern by snapping and unsnapping selective buttons and recombining layers in various ways. More than merely these (albeit creative and appealing) designs themselves, this design approach signals new ways of thinking about what we wear – they provide a new perspective on the possibilities of transforming, multipurpose and create-your-own textiles.
My Favorite Blogs Bio-Accessories: Funky & Eco-Friendly Fashion Designs Some will no doubt say that this is green fashion gone a bit too far – but what fun is always being eco-friendly at the expense of creative, unique and personalized style? In densely built urban environments many of us rarely have contact with nature, hence the idea to make a series of simple fashion bio-accessories that each have an organic living element within them. The idea is that each piece brings some aspect of nature to the wearer, from the chirping sound of a bird to clean air breathed in from attached plant life. Philosophies aside, however, this is a series of funky fashion-for-thought design statements that are designed to engage the wearers as well as observers around them.
A bit of green :: Crafts :: Plastic Cup Lamp Now that my university is closed for winter holidays, I finally have more free time to do all the crafty things I’ve been wanting to. One of these is a lamp made from plastic cups I’ve seen at taf, the art foundation, in the Monastiraki region in the center of Athens. When I first saw it at taf, I was amazed; I looked closely and I couldn’t believe my eyes! The object itself is so peculiar, modern and alien-like it could be in any design exhibition. With my best friend’s birthday coming up, I decided to make it myself and give it to her as a gift. Disclaimer: There have been some concerns about the safety of this construction (see the comment of user “when” below for example). I only needed a couple of things: 200-250 large plastic cups (recyclable, at least )600-700 staplesa staplera lamp socket, lamp cord and plug – mine came from a broken IKEA lamp! That’s all you will need. Start stapling the cups together as shown. Staple again and again and again… Until your lamp goes from this…
Customizable Clothing: Unique 120-Zipper Dress Design This convertible dress design by Sebastian Errazuriz is nothing short of stunning in any of its possible stylistic configurations. The wearer can simply zip and unzip along any of the horizontal zipper lines to convert their clothing in a matter of seconds. What might be most remarkable about this design is how quickly it can shift from elegant to sexy, a full-length, single-piece dress one could potentially wear to work into a skimpy, short-cut, two-piece number that could put some bikinis to shame. In between there are any number of other options for shortening the top or bottom or even leaving some zippers partly on and partly off. Despite the obvious benefits in terms of variable style, temperature and so on there are some clear drawbacks to this design as well.
Creative Guest: Nike from Choose to THRIVE Is it just me, or does guest posting on Ucreate seem a little like sitting down on the couch with Oprah? I’m just a bit excited to be here people, and am trying my darndest to keep the couch jumping and fist pumps to a minimum… Anyway, I’m Nike. That’s Neekah … … the lady behind Choose To Thrive and stay-at-home-mom of six kids age nine and younger. My crafting adventures have taken a hard left the last few years since the Layoff Fairy visited our house--twice. Case in point: Recognize these beauties from the Ballard Designs catalog? I adore them. So I made my own. May I introduce my amazingly strong Ballard Designs inspired wall pockets made using only materials I had on hand. Cardboard + Fabric = Catalog awesomeness for $0! *Swoon* And making a sleek, customized organizer for all those homework folders/workbooks/mail/bills/receipts without spending any money makes me feel like Superwoman, even if I’m a week behind on laundry. Want to make your own? For the base and pockets you’ll need: Ahhhh.